capybara Posted December 9, 2023 Share Posted December 9, 2023 I have been thanked for my additional donation and have suggested this to NB. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 Conductor Dr Martin Georgiev has made a brilliant post on IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0xhF2zIVdC/ 6 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 Excellent post: thanks for highlighting it, Jan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said: Conductor Dr Martin Georgiev has made a brilliant post on IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0xhF2zIVdC/ Oh, I so agree with this! Cultural vandalism at its very worst under the auspices of moral superiority and enlightenment. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said: Conductor Dr Martin Georgiev has made a brilliant post on IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0xhF2zIVdC/ I also agree with this. Heritage is not elitist unless you make it so by depriving the majority of it. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 1 hour ago, Sim said: I also agree with this. Heritage is not elitist unless you make it so by depriving the majority of it. Wouldn’t you think that would be obvious to anyone with half a brain? Sadly we are increasingly in the realm of the brainless and the tactically and deliberately blinkered. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 Enjoyed Martin Georgiev's conducting last season and looking forward to having him back for Swan Lake in spring at ROH (when he takes over from Jonathan Lo, who conducts the first bunch of Swan Lakes- two Northern Ballet Sinfonia conductors participating in RB's Swan Lake!) Great to see him posting his support for fellow musicians in NB Sinfonia. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 According to the company's FB page each venue will show whether there will be an orchestra or not... NOT in the case of the newly announced Stratford date. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Does ACE's latest intervention go far enough? https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/news-comment/does-aces-latest-intervention-go-far-enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 https://www.thestrad.com/news/a-disastrous-situation-petition-to-save-northern-ballet-sinfonia-from-being-replaced-by-recordings/17520.article 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I know they are trying their best, but reading the company season announcement today for 2024-25, while lovely to see the return of the acclaimed Jane Eyre (an "export" to ABT at the Met, no less) and A Christmas Carol, left me with a heavy heart to see the announcements of performances at certain venues being danced to recorded music. I know many independent troupes and solo artists dance to recorded music all the time and nobody laments that. But NB Sinfonia is an outstanding top level ensemble, is a contributing factor to the reputation that NB has, and the NB ballets (especially the story ballets) benefit so much from live performances of the music. Surely something can be done to raise funds for this. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 The latest statement from the Musicians' Union: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/news/mu-rejects-use-of-recorded-music-to-replace-live-orchestra-at-northern-ballet 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) A lot of upset folk reacting on social media to the season announcement outlining the productions being performed to recorded music. It will be telling to see how much of these reactions are translated into a plunge in actual box office bookings when the shows are put on.....although that's a really risky way of testing the waters. The position of music director is still vacant on the website as are several musician posts. I wouldn't want to be applying for a position as music director and having to answer questions about why some shows are taking place without me or another conductor, and without any Sinfonia colleagues at all. But perhaps this is the one time they do need a plucky music director more than ever before: a music director with the ideas, vision and ingenuity to fight for the musicians and in fact the whole company by showing that the music can actually help them earn funds instead of draining funds. My concern is that if the performances to recorded music really do start to lead to poor box office takings which cannot be propped up by income from more successful shows like the Ella/van Manen/Peck triple bill and the R&J performances in Leeds +/- London, then it will be cancelling of the live music that triggers NB's demise. There are still so many other options to increase income (which they're not using) beyond the "bring story ballets to different cities" model that they were using 15 years ago. They have already maxed out begging for donations from their loyal audience- that's not how a successful dance company raises funds. They have so many incredible dancers and musicians and great repertoire they can do - they actually have the potential to be more financially successful than they were 30 years ago and even more so than some other thriving companies nowadays; they are just not using it. Their dancers could compete with many of the world's best and indeed they do- look how successful Lorenzo Trossello and Riku Ito are at ENB & BRB respectively - and many people have commented that they book performances and multiple casts just to see their (many) favourite dancers. Their board may or may not realise that the company's situation is looking perilous unless they change tack with their scheduling, the theatres they are using, where they're visiting, their fundraising approach, etc etc. And to start- they need to reinstate their Sinfonia for all shows and actually use their Sinfonia musicians more. They're sending out a self defeating message of giving up by axing their live music- and that self defeating message is in serious danger of becoming a self fulfilling prophecy. Edited February 13 by Emeralds 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I’ve no idea how ticket sales are going for the Autumn tour but Stratford is already heavily sold. None of us know what is going on behind the scenes to save the orchestra. I feel sad for Federico and David Collins as I am sure they can’t have known the precarious state of the company when they took up their posts just over a year ago. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 https://van-magazine.com/mag/can-the-northern-ballet-sinfonia-survive/?fbclid=IwAR2T-nd_fCNNuoss6tQ4VLjMwSCWX7WS68VgtkY7m80c_F9fOTJaZmD9Txs_aem_ASIlYQHI54qSa_y8oP2FfI9EP3JrTm3ZabMTv4zoX6MgS2B8lQNRea1LEJYSjc8zhmI Well worth a read. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheilaC Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 This is a very interesting report, many thanks Jan for bringing it to our attention. What struck me most is that Arts Council England pressure seems to be a factor in subduing the amount and type of publicity that Northern can make. This ties in to a disturbing article in yesterday's Guardian about how ACE have threatened any one associated with organisations receiving funds from making any 'political' statements. Apparently ACE withdrew the threat, after criticism, but it indicates the climate of fear. The article also said that it was announced last week that there will be " a full-scale review into ACE" by a government department (Dept for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport), good news as ACE is pernicious as shown by the decision to move ENO From London, historically the baby of the great Lillian Bayliss in trying to take culture to the people of London. But how far that review can be unbiased is perhaps questionable in the current climate. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) 1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said: https://van-magazine.com/mag/can-the-northern-ballet-sinfonia-survive/?fbclid=IwAR2T-nd_fCNNuoss6tQ4VLjMwSCWX7WS68VgtkY7m80c_F9fOTJaZmD9Txs_aem_ASIlYQHI54qSa_y8oP2FfI9EP3JrTm3ZabMTv4zoX6MgS2B8lQNRea1LEJYSjc8zhmI Well worth a read. VAN is a very good magazine for the performing arts (I've read some of their articles in the past although @Jan McNulty found this one before I did). The revelations of exactly how badly and precariously the Sinfonia musicians are paid was upsetting but sadly, unsurprising. The touring model that Anna Pavlova and rock bands have found to be profitable (1-2 nights in every town only) and that NB should seriously have a look at is to shorten each visit in each town, especially ones with smaller populations. Instead of 5 to 6 days which they're doing (which made their very brief 3 day visit to ROH - whose core audience has great affection for Ella and Bonelli and know a lot about van Manen and Tiler Peck - very baffling) they should shorten visits to 3 shows in 2 days in towns witn smaller populations or very high costs, and 4 shows on 3 days in cities that normally sell well, meaning one matinee per visit. I followed the progress of their ticket sales from their autumn tour and it is evident that if touring is becoming more expensive it is the touring itself - how many nights, what is being transported, where they are staying etc that needs to be revised, not the music. I don't see any statement that the Sinfonia musicians are charging the company a lot more- there's not much pay to cut, frankly. Conversely there were venues where ticket sales were not great with lots of empty seats on weekdays so the visits to those venues should be shortened as accommodation and theatre costs in those towns still have to be paid even if the ticket revenue is poor on certain days. One of the costs of touring is transporting sets and costumes- do they have to bring a story ballet (that isn't Nutcracker, Giselle or Swan Lake) to every town? Maybe it's time to reconsider the narrative ballet focus. That's a relatively new part of their manifesto- the company wasn't founded with a rule that they could only do narrative ballets and nothing else. It's artistically so limiting and much too expensive. A few tours with the Generations programme to more cities and just 2 nights in each city (bringing all 4 musicians in the string quartet and a pianist please!) would help balance the deficit. (The pianists and string musicians could take turns in different cities as there is company class to play the piano for as well as the Ella and van Manen ballets). That enables them to visit more locations with less ballet provision, surely something that Arts Council England will approve of (although a caveat to say that ACE cab be self contradictory, so don't bank on their approval- ACE axed the funding of Britten Sinfonia who were doing precisely that). And dancers welcome the chance to introduce live ballet performances to audiences who gave never seen it before or cannot get to see it easily. Ticket prices in some cities can also go a little higher. We're not seeing the ROH phenomenon when tickets are too pricey where the amphi sells out and the Stalls and Grand Tier are quite empty- NB performances do sell well.in the higher range very quickly, and the unsold seats are in all price points, meaning there are just too many performances and that there is room for a higher ticket price category. I do think that instead of seeing their Sinfonia as an expensive inconvenience (there are actually so few musicians that they don't cost that much to pay- they aren't saving that much!) they could take a leaf out of BRB's book and start their own Evenings of Music and Dance - perhaps touring a few concert halls in the North. I do know lots of people who would be put off attending an entire evening of ballet or dance, but if it was a small orchestra with some pieces danced they would welcome it. That's also a much less expensive programme to tour than the story ballets. I'm not saying ditch the story ballets altogether but do both, and less time in each city with the story ballets, to reduce costs and maximise ticket revenue. Get the Sinfonia to help them make money, don't leave them at home "unused". Plus that fundraising gala programme we're still waiting for! Edited February 16 by Emeralds 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now